Although it has long been known that there is a great need for practical means to prevent the theft of vehicles, such as automobiles, trailers, bicycles and etc. no such means has been generally adopted and the problem of theft remains to be solved. Among the means devised to prevent automobile thefts have been a number of wheel locks but none of these has come into general use. A recent professional search of the Patent and Trademark Office files for such devices has brought forth U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,499,883 to Chadwick et al., 2,960,857 to Winter, 3,828,590 to Thiebault, 4,164,131 to Desmond, 4,441,586 to Bermler, and Re. 24,712 to Marugg. All of these patents define hinged clamps for the wheel rim, which, in this application, is understood to include the tire, that are locked by some form of bolt near the clamp hinge to draw the arms of the clamp together. They act as chocks, and in order to be effective, must be massive and bulky. Even so, by driving very slowly a car or other vehicle, such as a trailer, can be moved with one of these chock devices on the wheel. Moreover, these hinged clamps can fit properly onto a single width of tire tread.
There still remains the need for an inexpensive, light weight device that will provide positive means to prevent the turning of a vehicle wheel, will fit widely different rim (including tire) widths and, in addition, will be very difficult for a thief to dismantle or remove.